1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of processing a semiconductor device wafer, and more particularly to the art of facilitating the handling of a thinned semiconductor device wafer.
2. Description of the Related Art
For processing a device wafer (also referred to as “wafer”) having a plurality of devices on its surface, such as a semiconductor device wafer, an optical device wafer, or the like, it has been customary to thin the wafer by grinding the reverse side thereof to a thickness of 50 μm or smaller.
Wafers that have a thickness of 50 μm or smaller are much more difficult to handle than thicker wafers. For example, those thin wafers tend to chip in their outer circumferential edges and to decrease greatly in rigidity when they are being handled.
There is known a technology for grinding the reverse side of a semiconductor device wafer whose surface (device surface) is bonded by an adhesive or the like to a carrier wafer (also referred to as a support wafer or a support plate) of glass or silicon.